Does brand matter? That seems to be a question Google wants to challenge. Eric Schmidt offers quotes like "brands are how you sort out the cesspool". Google's search algorithms this year have put more weight on domain authority (which is often associated with brands).

But while Google is telling everyone else to build a brand, Google might be looking to compete head on with brands in many large verticals. According to the NYT:

“LendingTree recently learned that Google imminently plans to launch a loan aggregation service in late August or early September of this year that would compete with LendingTree,” the complaint says. “Lending Tree has also learned that Mortech intends to make its pricing engine services available for use with Google’s new service and will send information related to mortgage loan offers to be displayed to consumer on Google’s Web site.”

The complaint further says that LendingTree has obtained screen shots of a trial version of Google’s service that further indicate that it plans to “provide customers with conditional loan offers in addition to lenders’ contact information.”

Google made a similar test in the UK last year. This is just more reason to develop longtail content and try to build distribution channels outside of search. It seems if you are too successful with search Google may do some self-serving to compete directly against you.

I once read a statement by someone who said that Google could not be touched in the search game, and that it was their "game to lose" - meaning that they will never be overtaken by a competitor unless they themselves screw it up. I whole-halfheartedly agree.

Over the last few years, I think many people have been quite impressed with how Google has handled their massive amount of power. However, in the last few months I've been hearing about some developments that are very Microsoft-esque in the few years before their decline at the hands of Google.

In the future, this year might be considered the beginning of the decline for Google as they hungrily and greedily make use of their extensive power.

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Hard to argue with that when you see it happen time and time again...

Add new comment

(If you're a human, don't change the following field)

Enter your name

Your first name.

Please enable Javascript to use this form.

(If you're a human, don't change the following field)

Enter your name

Your first name.

Please enable Javascript to use this form.

(If you're a human, don't change the following field)

Enter your name

Your first name.

Please enable Javascript to use this form.

Your name

Subject

Comment *

Gain a Competitive Advantage Today

Your top competitors have been investing into their marketing strategy for years.

Now you can know exactly where they rank, pick off their best keywords, and track new opportunities as they emerge.

Explore the ranking profile of your competitors in Google and Bing today using SEMrush.

Enter a competing URL below to quickly gain access to their organic & paid search performance history - for free.